Federal Member for Newcastle

BUDGET WISH #6: FIX THE LOOMING AGED CARE CRISIS

Pressure is building for the Turnbull Government to address the looming crisis in aged care in the upcoming Federal Budget.

Federal Member for Newcastle Sharon Claydon said it’s completely unacceptable that almost 105,000 older Australians are unable to access the in-home aged care packages that they’ve been approved for.

“This includes almost 79,000 older Australians, many of whom have dementia, who have been left waiting for the high-level care packages they need,” Ms Claydon said.

“At Senate Estimates this year, departmental representatives revealed that the average wait time for a high-level care package is now more than a year.”

Ms Claydon said she is hearing too many stories of Novocastrians being forced into residential facilities because they have no other choice.

“The very purpose of in-home care is to help people to stay in their own homes for longer where they are more likely to be healthier and happier,” Ms Claydon said.

“The Government’s shameful underinvestment in aged care is forcing people into expensive residential facilities prematurely, which hurts older Australians and puts an even greater strain on the federal budget.”

Ms Claydon said the Turnbull Government’s tax cuts for corporations would come at the expense of older Australians.

“This Government has been consistently focused on diverting as much precious public money as possible to big business and tax breaks for wealthy Australians,” Ms Claydon said.

“They fund these giveaways by cutting savagely from critical support services like aged care, leaving older Australians and their families to pay the price.”

Ms Claydon will be counting down her top ten Budget Wishes in the days leading up to the Federal Budget on Tuesday 8 May.